Barnabas Collins
.]] Barnabas Collins was a 175-year-old vampire from the town of Collinsport, Maine. Having bridged the centuries, he has been both an adversary and an ally to his extended family members over the course of several generations. 18th Century Barnabas Collins was born the son of Joshua and Naomi Collins at some point in the latter half of the 18th century. As a young man, he became active in the family business and developed close ties with his uncle, Jeremiah Collins (some sources indicate that Jeremiah and Barnabas were brothers due to the closeness of their ages, but this has since been proven erroneous). Other members of Barnabas’ immediate family included his aunt, Abigail, his beloved sister, Sarah, and his cousins, Millicent and Daniel Collins. Josette In the mid 1790s, Barnabas traveled to the island of Martinique where he met Josette DuPres. The two instantly fell in love and began a passionate romance with each other. During their courtship however, Barnabas had an affair with Josette’s maidservant, Angelique Bouchard. Angelique fell obsessively in love with Barnabas, but Barnabas spurned her affection – an act that would have disastrous consequences in Barnabas’ future (368). Barnabas asked Josette to marry him and the two arranged for the wedding to take place at the family estate known as Collinwood (Note: In the future, this version of Collinwood will come to be known as the Old House). Barnabas returned to Collinsport to inform his family while Josette briefly returned to her home in France to collect her belongings (and her family) . The Witch In the winter of 1795, Barnabas met Victoria Winters. Through strange circumstances, Victoria had come to stay at Collinwood as governess to Barnabas’ sister, Sarah. What Barnabas didn’t realize however, was that Victoria was actually a woman from the year 1967 who had traveled backwards through time as the result of a séance gone wrong (366). Although several members of the Collins family suspected Victoria of being a witch, Barnabas was one of the few who actually liked the poor, time-lost girl. Within a few days time, Josette and her family, the countess Natalie DuPres and her husband Andre DuPres arrived at Collinwood. Josette, brought her servant, Angelique with her, unaware of the woman’s indiscretions with her betrothed. Angelique pleaded with Barnabas to abandon Josette and marry her instead, but Barnabas was adamant and completely dismissed Angelique (368). What Barnabas didn’t know at this time, was that his jilted lover was actually a powerful witch. Enraged by his behavior, Angelique used her magic to choke Barnabas Collins, forcing him to fall gravely ill (370-371. When this failed to force Barnabas to abandon Josette, Angelique used her power to make Josette fall in love with Jeremiah Collins (374). She used the same magic on Jeremiah and before long, Josette abandoned Barnabas to marry his uncle instead (382). Barnabas was furious and challenged Jeremiah to a duel. Angelique secretly supplied Barnabas with a good luck charm that protected him, and Barnabas dealt Jeremiah a fatal wound (383-384, 391). After the death of Jeremiah, Angelique forced Barnabas into marrying her (397). Joshua nearly disowned Barnabas over this, but his mother, Naomi, wanted nothing more than for Barnabas to be happy, and gave him the estate as a wedding gift (Naomi had no idea about the true nature of their relationship) (395). On their wedding night, Barnabas learned of Angelique’s true nature. He discovered that she was the secret cause of so much misery at Collinwood. Barnabas tried to kill Angelique, but she miraculously survived (401-402). The Curse Fearing for Josette’s safety, Barnabas met with her and pleaded with her to leave Collinsport. He gave her a handcrafted music box and told her that he would meet her in Boston in a few days (404-405). Angelique learned of this and tried to prevent Barnabas from returning to his lover. Barnabas shot Angelique in the chest, killing her. With her final breaths, Angelique placed a curse upon Barnabas. A large bat flew into the parlor of Collinwood and bit him upon the throat (405). Within days, Barnabas Collins died and rose from the grave as a vampire (409). One of the first to discover Barnabas’ secret was his little sister, Sarah. One evening, Sarah ran out into the cold, evening rain in search of Barnabas. The following day, she developed severe pneumonia and died soon after (415). The death of Sarah Collins tormented Barnabas gravely, but little did he know that an even more traumatic event loomed on the horizon. Barnabas tried to hide the knowledge of his resurrection from his love, Josette, out of fear of the vampiric lust for blood overtaking him, but he eventually succumbed to his inhuman nature and bit Josette across the throat, drinking some of her blood (420). Josette, horrified at what Barnabas had become, could no longer live under the shadow of such terror, and so, she threw herself from the top of Widows' Hill onto the rocks below (425). This single act represented the greatest tragedy in Barnabas Collins’ life. After Josette By 1796, Barnabas had continued to plague the town of Collinsport, feeding indiscriminately off of various women. Several people, including his own mother and father, learned about Barnabas’ resurrection and his true nature. He made enemies as well, including the opportunistic, Nathan Forbes, and the puritanical Reverend Trask. Reverend Trask, convinced that Victoria Winters was the witch that had been plaguing Collinsport for the past winter, was determined to see her hang at the gallows. Barnabas Collins, aware of Angelique’s true powers, knew that Vicki was innocent. He abducted Reverend Trask and forced him to write a letter proclaiming Victoria’s innocence. After which, he sealed Trask up inside of a wall in the cellar of the Old House (442). This event would have dire ramifications for Barnabas in both the 19th and 20th century. Joshua Collins was horrified to see what had become of his son. However, he did not have the strength to end Barnabas’ life – even when Barnabas begged him to do so. At Barnabas’ request, Joshua kept him secured in the tower room at the newly constructed Collinwood. However, his cousin, Millicent Collins and mother, Naomi both discovered Barnabas’ great secret – a discovery that would lead to each of their deaths (457, 459). Once again, Barnabas pleaded with Joshua to end his life. Instead of killing him, Joshua had the loyal servant, Ben Stokes seal Barnabas within his coffin inside a secret antechamber in the Collins family mausoleum at Eagle Hill Cemetery. Joshua, Ben and Barnabas were the only ones still alive who were even aware of the existence of this hidden room. He secured the coffin with thick chains so that Barnabas would remain trapped for all time (460). 19th Century 1840-1841 1897 20th Century Resurrection In 1967, a man named Willie Loomis broke into the Collins mausoleum in search of the fabled family jewels. He discovered the secret antechamber in the rear of the crypt and released the chains binding Barnabas to his coffin. Barnabas rose from his coffin and attacked Willie, turning him into his personal slave (210). Barnabas donned modern clothing and introduced himself to the current family living at Collinwood. He claimed to be a descendent of the original Barnabas Collins who moved to England to sire a European branch of the family in the late 1700s. Although everyone at Collinwood were astonished by the similarities between he and the likeness of his ancestor, no one felt that Barnabas was anything other than what he claimed to be – a distant cousin (211-212). With the permission of the head of Collinwood, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Barnabas moved into the Old House. He revealed that Willie Loomis was now working for him as his personal handyman and assigned him the gregarious task of returning the Old House to its former glory (220-221). A new Josette Barnabas' prized possessions There are several items of note that have always been very important to Barnabas Collins. Some of his prized possessions that he has owned or coveted over the years include: * Gold and silver handled, wolf’s-head cane * Black, signet ring * Portrait of Josette * Josette’s music box * Portrait of Barnabas (2nd) Barnabas' victims * Angelique Bouchard Collins (405) * Jeremiah Collins (391) * Millicent Collins (457) * Nathan Forbes (460) * Suki Forbes (423) * Jason McGuire (275) * Ruby Tate (414) * Reverend Trask (442) : Note: Characters in bold represent victims who were killed prior to Barnabas becoming a vampire. Notes * For reasons that were never adequately explained, Barnabas Collins has no recollection of meeting Victoria Winters in 1795 when he encounters her again in 1967 (211). This can be attributed to time travel paradox. Since Vicki's jaunt into the past takes place after her initial meeting with Barnabas, the timeline does not sufficiently correct itself to account for Barnabas' memories in 1967 (211,365-366) . Appearances 210 211 212 214 218 220 221 222 224 225/226 227 230 233 234 236 238 239 240 241 243 245 247 248 250 251 253 255 258 260 261 264 267 274 276 277 278 279 280 281 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 293 294 295 296 297 299 300 301 302 305 306 309 310 311 312 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 325 326 328 329 330 331 332 333 337 338 339 340 341 343 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 353 354 355 356 358 359 362 363 364 : Barnabas Collins was played by Jonathan Frid. : In episode 210-211, Tim Gordon played the part of Barnabas’ hand. Collins, Barnabas